Follow the Traffic- Which country drive which side

  countries with right-hand traffic

  countries with left-hand traffic

The terms right-hand traffic and left-hand traffic refer to regulations requiring all bidirectional traffic to keep either to the right or the left side of the road, respectively.This is so fundamental to traffic flow that it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road. This basic rule eases traffic flow and reduces the risk of head-on collisions. Though originally most traffic drove on the left worldwide, today about 66.1% of the world's people live in right-hand traffic countries and 33.9% in left-hand traffic countries. About 72% of the world's total road distance carries traffic on the right, and 28% on the left.

Left-hand traffic

All traffic is generally required to keep left unless overtaking.

Oncoming traffic is seen coming from the right.

Right-turning traffic must cross oncoming traffic.

Most traffic signs facing motorists are on the left side of the road.

Traffic on roundabouts (traffic circles or rotaries) goes clockwise.

Pedestrians crossing a two-way road look first for traffic from their right.

The lane designated for normal driving and turning left is on the left

Most dual carriageway (divided highway) exits are on the left

Other vehicles are overtaken (passed) on the right, though in some circumstances overtaking on the left is permitted.

Most vehicles have the driving seat on the right.

A left turn at a red light may be allowed after stopping.

On roads without a footpath pedestrians may be advised to walk on the right.

Jurisdictions with left-hand traffic

List of jurisdictions where traffic keeps left 

Note: Italics indicates year of change to driving on the left.

Alderney Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Australia Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Bermuda Bhutan Botswana Brunei Cayman Islands Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Cyprus Dominica East Timor (drove on right 1928-1976) Falkland Islands Fiji Grenada Guernsey Guyana Hong Kong India

Indonesia* Ireland Isle of Man Jamaica Japan (Okinawa 1978)Jersey Kenya Kiribati Lesotho Macau Malawi Malaysia Maldives Malta Mauritius Montserrat Mozambique Namibia (1918) Nauru (1918) Nepal New Zealand Niue Norfolk Island Pakistan Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Islands

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa (2009) Seychelles Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Tanzania Thailand Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Kingdom British Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Zambia Zimbabwe

* Until late 1960s, imported vehicles from USA were fitted with left-hand drive layout
Total: 76 countries, territories and dependencies

Right-hand traffic

• All traffic is generally required to keep right unless overtaking.
• Oncoming traffic is seen coming from the left.
• Left-turning traffic must cross oncoming traffic.
• Most traffic signs facing motorists are on the right side of the road.
• Traffic on roundabouts (traffic circles or rotaries) goes anticlockwise.
• Pedestrians crossing a two-way road look first for traffic from their left.
• The lane designated for normal driving and turning right is on the right.
• Most dual carriageway (divided highway) exits are on the right
• Other vehicles are generally overtaken (passed) on the left, though in some circumstances overtaking on the right is permitted.
• Most vehicles have the driving seat on the left.
• A right turn at a red light may be allowed after stopping.
• On roads without a footpath pedestrians may be advised to walk on the left.

Jurisdictions with right-hand traffic

List of jurisdictions where traffic keeps right 

Note: Italics indicates year of change to driving on the right.

Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola (1928) Argentina (1945) Armenia Aruba Austria (1935–38) Azerbaijan Bahrain (1967) Belarus Belgium Belize (1961) Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma (Myanmar) (1970) Burundi Cambodia Cameroon (1961) Canada (1920s) Cape Verde (1928) Central African Republic Chad Chile China, mainland (1946) Colombia Comoros Congo (Brazzaville) Congo (Kinshasa) Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Czech Republic (1939, details)Denmark 1793*

Djibouti Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea (1964) Estonia Ethiopia (1964) Faroe Islands Finland (1858) France (1789) French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia (1965) Georgia Germany Ghana (1974) Gibraltar (1929) Greece Greenland Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau (1928) Haiti Honduras Hungary (1941) Iceland (1968) Iran Iraq Israel Italy Jordan Kazakhstan Korea DPR Korea (1946) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos

Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Republic of Macedonia Madagascar Mali Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Midway Atoll Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia Nicaragua Niger Nigeria (1972) Northern Mariana Is. Norway Oman Palau Panama (1943) Paraguay (1945) Peru Philippines (1946) Poland Portugal (1928) Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion

Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Pierre and Miquelon San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe (1928) Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone (1971) Slovakia (1939-41) Slovenia Somalia (1968) Spain (October 1924) Sudan (1973) Svalbard Sweden (1967 ) Switzerland Syria Taiwan (1946) Tajikistan Togo Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States (1792) Uruguay (1945) Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wake Island Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen(1977)**

*1758 in Copenhagen, 1793 in the rest of Denmark
**In South Yemen
Total: 163 countries and territories

World map showing the driving directions for all countries and any changes that have occurred in the past starting with Finland's change in 1858.

   Has always driven on the right (RHT).

   Originally drove on the left, but now drives on the right.

   Has always driven on the left (LHT).

   Originally drove on the right, but now drives on the left.

   Once had different rules of the road (depending on one's location), but now drives on the right.

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Secret Codes Not meant for everyone

Stores, hospitals, entertainment venues, and other places where the public are together in large numbers, use secret codes to pass information between store employees. These are meant to be a secret as they don’t want to alarm the non-staff members or alert someone (like a thief) to the fact that they have been noticed. Many stores have their own codes – for example WalMart, but there are a number that are nearly universal in application. This is a list of ten secret codes that may prove useful to you in future, or at least dispel any curiosity you may have if you hear them.

10

Ten Codes

The Ten Codes are a list of codes used by law enforcement officers in the United States. They are available on the Internet which would make them seem inappropriate for this list, but a large number of police departments have tried to have them made illegal for distribution, so they deserve a mention. The codes were developed initially in 1937 and were expanded in 1974. The California Police use a variety of extra codes which predated the ten codes. For example, a 187 (one eighty-seven) means homicide. In the ten codes system, a 10-31 means that a crime is in progress, a 10-27-1 means homicide (the 10 is usually not said when it is a three-number sequence), and a 10-00 (ten double-zero) means “officer down – all patrols respond.

9

Professional Codes

In computer support, a variety of codes can be used when referring to a customer. One of these codes has become fairly well known on the internet: PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair) but there are a variety of others that are lesser known. One of these is used when reporting a fault which has been fixed: “The fault was a PICNIC” (problem in chair – not in computer), or “ID 10 T Error” – ID 10 T is, of course, IDIOT. Let us hope that you never see this noted down on your file when a serviceman is fixing your computer.

8

Time Check

Time Check (usually taking a similar form to: “Time check: the time is 12:00″) can be a code in stores for a bomb alert. It alerts the staff to follow the bomb procedure, which can be to either try to locate any suspicious packages, or to prepare to get the hell out. If you hear a time check in a store, it is probably a good idea to start moving toward the exit. Surprisingly – and shockingly, the majority of stores that use this code actually expect their staff to search for the bomb – certainly an aspect of the job that the majority of teenaged checkout operators weren’t expecting when they signed up I am sure.

7

Code 10

A code 10 in hospitals can refer to a mass casualty or serious threat (such as a bomb alert), but the majority of people experiencing a code 10 will do so for another far more common reason: a “code 10 authorization” is made by a merchant when he needs to call a credit card company to enquire about your card. This means that he is suspicious of you or your card and doesn’t want you to know it while he gets it checked out. When the credit card company hears that they have a code 10, they will ask a series of yes/no questions to the merchant in order to find out what the situation is. This will often result in the merchant keeping your card if they believe it is safe to do so. This type of call often results in a call to law enforcement.

6

Doctor Brown

“Doctor Brown” is a code word often used in hospitals to alert security staff to a threat to personnel. If a nurse or doctor is in danger from a violent patient or non-staff member, they can page Doctor Brown to their location and the security staff will rush to their aid. In some hospitals, code silver is used to refer to a person with a weapon, and code gray can mean a violent person without a weapon. Hospitals have a huge array of various codes to describe all manner of situations. They often differ from hospital to hospital and they are usually not internationally recognized.

5

Code Oscar

On a ship, a code oscar means someone has gone overboard. If the ship has to maneuver erratically to handle the situation, it must also send out blasts on the signal so that other ships nearby are aware of the fact that it is about to change its course. It should be noted that ships don’t have an internationally standardized set of PA signals and they can differ from place to place, but this is a fairly commonly used one. Oh – and a code delta can mean that there is a biological hazard – though who knows what that might be on a passenger ship. And finally, Code Alpha often means “medical emergency”.

4

Code Bravo

Code Bravo is the code phrase for a general security alert at airports. Unlike most of the codes on this list, the code is meant to cause alarm – but not through knowing what it means: when this alert is raised, all of the security agents will begin to yell “Code Bravo” in order to frighten the passengers – this is supposed to make it easier for the agents to locate the source of the problem without interference from the general public. For those of you who travel on ships from time to time, you may like to know that Code Bravo means “fire” and it is the most serious alert on a ship – if it burns, you either get off or burn with it. Ships also often use sound signals, such as 7 short and 1 long, meaning “man the lifeboats”.

3

Inspector Sands

Inspector Sands (or sometimes Mr Sands), is a code for fire in the United Kingdom. Obviously it would not be appropriate for the service staff of a store to announce a fire publicly, so this code is used to alert the appropriate staff to the danger without upsetting customers. The wording differs from place to place and in the Underground network a recorded “Inspector Sands” warning is automatically triggered by smoke detectors. In some shops you will hear the code used in a phrase such as “Will inspector Sands please report to the men’s changing room” if the fire is in the men’s changing room. It was played on a continuous loop through the underground during the July 7, 2005 bombings, and has been incorrectly described as a code word for a bomb – the frequently used code for a bomb in the Underground is “Mr Gravel” – for example, “Mr Gravel is in the foyer”. Mr Sands (or sometimes Mr Johnson) is also used in theaters in the case of fire.

2

WalMart

WalMart gets its own item on this list because they have a large number of codes that are store specific. Some of their codes should not worry you – for example a code 10 or a code 20 just means that there has been a dry spill or a wet spill – the biggest danger this poses to you is that you might slip over. A code 300 calls for security and a code orange means there has been a chemical spill. But here are the ones you really need to worry about: Code red means there is a fire in the building – get the hell out if you hear this. Worse still, a code blue means there is a bomb in the building. Exit swiftly but don’t run – in case they think you planted it. A code green means there is a hostage situation and a code white means there is an accident. The one you are most likely to hear is a code c which is simply a call for customer service (usually meaning that more cashiers are needed). And finally – the most famous WalMart code… well, it’s so famous it needs its own item:

1

Code Adam

Code Adam was invented by Walmart but it is now an internationally recognized alert. It means “missing child”. The code was first coined in 1994 in memory of Adam Walsh, a six-year old, who went missing in a Sears department store in Florida in 1981. Adam was later found murdered. The person making the announcement will state “we have a code Adam,” followed by a description of the missing child. As soon as the alert is heard, security staff will begin to monitor the doors and other exits. If the child is not found within 10 minutes, the police are alerted and a store search begins. Also, if the child is found in the first 10 minutes in the company of an unknown adult, the police must be called and the person detained if it is safe to do so. In 2003, the US Congress passed legislation making a “Code Adam” program compulsory in all federal office buildings. A similar alert is called an AMBER alert, a backronym for “America’s Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response” but initially named for Amber Hagerman, a 9 year old girl who was abducted and murdered.

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